INTRODUCTION: Preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation (PPR) is an emerging therapy for transplant candidates who are awaiting surgery. Research indicates that PPR training has benefits for improving exercise tolerance, but little researcher exists on the association between PPR on post-transplant hospital outcomes. METHODS: The study was a non-probability cross-sectional analysis performed on data for post-transplant recipients who received either a single or bilateral lung transplant from February 8, 2007 to July 8, 2014. The study sample consisted of 207 transplant recipients. Analyses of the associations between independent variables: preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation and six-minute walk distance (6MWD) and covariates were performed by logistic regression analysis to examine the following outcomes: length of stay, hospital readmissions in the first 90 days post- transplant, and the number of hospital readmissions in the first 90 days. RESULTS: Transplant recipients who participated in preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation had 1.77 times greater odds of being readmitted in the first 90 days post-transplant compared to recipients who did not participated in preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation. Transplant recipients whose 6MWD was greater than 207 meters and who participated in preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation had 4.99 times greater odds of length of staying 12 days or less post- transplant surgery compared to transplant recipients whose walk distance was less than 207 meters and who did not participate in preoperative pulmonary rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary rehabilitation is an important part of the lung transplant. The results of this study indicate the importance of preoperative lung transplant on post-transplant outcomes for transplant recipients.

Postoperative site infections are the second most common health care associated infection in Sweden. Surgical procedures can lead to postoperative site infection causing great suffer for the patient and an extended care time with an increased cost as a result. In preparation for surgery, it is important that the skin is well prepared with antiseptics to decrease the risk of postoperative site infection. The purpose with this study was to shed light upon the skin preparation before surgery and its significance to postoperative site infection. Ten scientific articles have been scrutinized and compiled and two themes have been identified – the preoperative and the intraoperative skin preparation. All in all, difference could be spotted in the number of washes and how these had been preformed before the surgery. Similarities could be spotted in the hair shortening procedure and the alcohol added in selected disinfectant, influences the probability for decrease in postoperative surgical site infection. The result from this study shows that more research is needed regarding how the skin shall be prepared before surgery to reduce the number of postoperative site infections.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

No description available.

Det är välkänt att patienter känner oro inför generell anestesi vilket utgör ett problem i den anestesiologiska omvårdnaden. Studier gjorda över olika decennier visar att över 80 % av patienter som ska genomgå operation känner oro inför generell anestesi. Det patienter känner oro inför är exempelvis att tappa kontrollen, vakna under anestesin, att inte vakna efter operationen, erhålla perifer venkateter och lång väntan. Anestesisjuksköterskan träffar patienten först i det preoperativa samtalet och ska då under några minuter identifiera  patientens oro samt planera omvårdnadsåtgärderna för att försöka lindra den. Detta medför ett stort behov av adekvata omvårdnadsåtgärder som kan hjälpa patienten lindra sin oro. Syftet med studien var att beskriva anestesisjuksköterskans omvårdnadsstrategier för att lindra patientens oro inför generell anestesi. Studien har en deskriptiv kvalitativ design med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Studien innefattade intervjuer med fyra verksamma anestesisjuksköterskor på ett sjukhus i västra Sverige. Efter  dataanalysen framkom två kategorier som beskriver anestesisjuksköterskans omvårdnadsstrategier preoperativt för att lindra patientens oro inför generell anestesi. En spridning av studiens material kan kanske öka medvetenheten om användningen av olika omvårdnadsstrategier. Detta skulle i sin tur kunna bidra till att lindra den preoperativa oron inför generell anestesi. / It is well-known that patients feel anxious about general anesthesia and that makes a problem in the nursing of anesthesia. Studies made over decades show that over 80% of the patients undergoing operation feel anxious about general anesthesia. Patients feel anxious about to lose control, wake up during the operation, never wake up, to get a needle and to wait long. The anesthesia nurse sees the patient at the first time in the preoperative meeting and have to identify anxiety and plan the nursing strategies in a few minutes. This lead to a large need of adequate nursing strategies which can mitigate patients anxiety. The aim of this study was to describe nursing strategies preoperative to mitigate patients anxiety before general anesthesia. The study has a descriptive qualitative design and semi structured interviews were used to collect data. The study was based on four working anesthesia nurses in a hospital in the west of Sweden. After the analysis two categories were identified to describe the nursing strategies to ease the patients anxiety before operation. The results of the study can get around and add the consciousness to use different nursing strategies. This could in turn conduct to help patients ease the preoperative anxiety before general anesthesia.

Das Ziel dieser Studie war eine Darstellung der aktuellen Situation der präoperativen Risikoevaluierung in der Anästhesie-Ambulanz der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen unter besonderer Beachtung des kardialen Risikos. Es erfolgte ein Vergleich der Vorstellungen der Anästhesisten mit dem realen Vorgehen bei der Prämedikationsvisite. In den meisten Fällen kommt es zu einer Übereinstimmung. Es gibt jedoch auch Fälle, in denen es Unterschiede mit möglicherweise weitreichenden Konsequenzen gibt. Beispielsweise zeigt sich eine hundertprozentige Einigkeit unter den Anästhesisten, Betablocker präoperativ nicht abzusetzen. In der Praxis wird dies bei jedem 20. Patienten dennoch getan. Zudem ergeben sich auffällige Diskrepanzen zwischen internen Vorgaben oder Leitlinien und dem Vorgehen der prämedizierenden Anästhesisten hinsichtlich der Nachforderung weiterführender präoperativer Untersuchungen. Insbesondere spiegelt sich dies bei den Laborparametern wider, welche die Anästhesisten bereits routinemäßig wesentlich häufiger bestimmen lassen wollen und dies in der Praxis dann auch bei immerhin 9 % aller Patienten ohne ersichtlichen Grund anhand der Leitlinien oder klinischen Befunde durchführen. Hinsichtlich der kardialen Risikoevaluation zeigt sich, dass in fast 90 % der Fälle eine solche anhand der Dokumentation nach den aktuellen Leitlinien nachvollziehbar ermöglicht wird. Zur Optimierung wäre sicher eine Erstellung von Pflichtfeldern auf dem Prämedikationsprotokoll sinnvoll. Trotz hoher Korrelation zwischen ASA-Einstufung und kardialer Risikobeurteilung gibt es dennoch immer wieder Patienten, welche trotz höherer ASA-Einstufung nur ein geringes kardiales Risiko aufweisen und auch wenige, bei denen trotz niedriger ASA-Stufe dennoch ein kardiales Risiko zu finden ist.

Young children who experience high levels preoperative anxiety often exhibit distress behaviors, experience more surgical complications, and are at a higher risk for developing a variety of negative postoperative consequences. A significant factor in pediatric preoperative anxiety is the level of anxiety present in their caregivers. Music therapy interventions addressing a variety of procedural outcomes have been met with success. The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative effectiveness of two music therapy interventions on reducing preoperative anxiety in young pediatric surgical patients and their caregivers. A total of 40 pediatric patient and caregiver dyads were included in this study on various days that they were present for ambulatory surgery. Pediatric preoperative anxiety was measured pre- and post-intervention using the modified Yale Pediatric Anxiety Scale, while caregiver anxiety was measured through self-report using the short form Strait-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y6. Participants received a randomized active or passive preoperative music therapy session. Results indicate a significant reduction in preoperative anxiety for both patients and their caregivers. Neither active, nor passive music therapy interventions were significantly more effective than the other. Future studies should increase sample size and control for various factors such as sedative premedication use.

Aim: To assess the ability of critical flicker frequency (CFF) and optimal reading speed (ORS) to predict the potential vision in patients with cataract with and without ocular comorbidity. Methods: The two novel tests were compared with two well established potential vision tests (PVTs), the potential acuity meter (PAM) and the laser interferometer (LI). Measurements were made preoperatively in 1 eye of 88 subjects using the battery of 4 PVTs. Postoperative measurements were made with the CFF and the ORS. The subjects studied were consecutive cases over a 12-month period who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and agreed to participate in this study. Results: CFF was the PVT most resistant to the presence of cataract. Both CFF and ORS give a similar predictive precision in the presence of cataract and ocular comorbidity, although CFF seems more precise when the cataract is dense. Conclusions: The PAM and the LI showed a limited clinical capability in predicting postoperative visual acuity, particularly with dense opacities. The CFF shows the most promise as a PVT, particularly with dense cataract. Further evaluation is required for both CFF and ORS.

Bakgrund: Föräldrar vars barn ska genomgå anestesi och operation önskar stödja barnet på bästa sätt inför detta. Samtidigt är de själva ofta oroliga. Oro hos föräldrar och oro hos barn tycks hänga samman, likväl som en lugn förälder tycks kunna vara till hjälp för ett oroligt barn. Syfte: Att belysa vad anestesisjuksköterskan kan bidra med för att svara an till föräldrars önskan att vara till stöd för sitt barn under den pre- och intraoperativa perioden, och därmed främja hälsa och välbefinnande hos dem båda. Metod: Litteraturöversikt med kvalitativ ansats. Resultat: Resultatet presenteras under två huvudteman med fyra underteman vardera. Huvudtemat Att vara belyser anestesisjuksköterskans sätt att vara emot föräldrarna, medan Att göra belyser dennes konkreta handlingar. Slutsats: Anestesisjuksköterskan kan genom god omvårdnad öka föräldrarnas möjlighet att stödja sitt barn pre- och intraoperativt. / Background: Parents whose child is going to be anesthetized and operated wish to support the child for the upcoming events in the best way possible. At the same time they often experience anxiety. The parents and the childs anxiety seems to be related, as well as a calm parent can be helpful to a worried child. Aim: To highlight in what way the nurse anaesthetist can contribute to respond to the parents desire to support their child in the pre- and intraoperative period, and thereby promote health and wellbeing for them both. Method: Literature review with a qualitative approach. Findings: The findings are presented in two main themes with four subthemes each. To be illuminates the nurse anaesthetists way to behave towards the parents, and To do highlights her or his practical actings. Conclusion: The nurse anaesthetist can improve the parents ability to support their child pre- and intraoperative by providing good nursing care.

Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant that has become a treatment option for several indications that are not approved by Health Canada. Commonly, gabapentin is prescribed for neuropathic pain and anxiety disorders. The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate the efficacy of gabapentin for reducing pre-operative anxiety, post-operative pain and opioid consumption. The initial study examined regimens of pre-operative and post-operative gabapentin given to patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty. Patients that received gabapentin postoperatively used significantly less morphine at 24 hrs, 36 hrs and 48 hrs (p<0.05). Furthermore these patients had significantly better active-assisted knee flexion on postoperative day (POD) 2, POD 3, with a trend toward better flexion on POD 4. Next, we examined whether: 1) gabapentin administration reduces pain and opioid use after total hip arthroplasty using a multimodal analgesic regimen that included spinal anesthesia; and whether 2) preoperative administration of gabapentin is more effective than postoperative administration. Our results demonstrated that whether a 600 mg dose of gabapentin was given preoperatively or postoperatively, patients’ postoperative morphine consumption or pain scores were not reduced in hospital nor was there a reduction in pain 6 months after hip arthroplasty. The third study found that a single dose of 600 mg of gabapentin was not sufficient to reduce preoperative anxiety in patients prior to hip arthroplasty. In contrast, the final study demonstrated that 1200mg of gabapentin reduced pre-operative anxiety and pain catastrophizing in female patients with moderate to high levels of preoperative anxiety prior to major surgery, but also increased preoperative and early postoperative sedation. Our findings demonstrate the efficacy of perioperative gabapentin with respect to preoperative anxiety reduction and decreasing morphine consumption after surgery. Future studies that focus on the optimal dose and duration of perioperative gabapentin, with the aim of improving functional outcomes and decreasing the incidence and severity chronic post-surgical pain are warranted.